May 13, 2016

Trump Advisor Reveals True Social Security Plans

According to The Wall Street Journal, senior Trump policy adviser Donald Clovis reversed Trump’s earlier statements that he would have “no cuts” to Social Security if elected President.

Clovis spoke at an event sponsored by the right-wing Peter G. Peterson Foundation, an organization dedicated to undermining Social Security and forcing Americans into risky privatization schemes. The Journal quotes Clovis saying that “after the [Trump] administration has been in place, we will start to take a look at all of the programs, including entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare” for cuts and so-called reforms. Clovis cited the need to control the federal budget, despite the fact that the Social Security Trust Fund is not part of the federal budget and does not contribute to the deficit.

“Donald Trump is backpedaling on his promises faster than a gazelle being chased by a cheetah,” said Richard Fiesta, executive director for the Alliance for Retired Americans. “He told Americans he would ‘save Social Security without cuts’ to win in the GOP primaries and caucuses. Now that Trump has the nomination in his grasp his minions are scrambling to assure Republican party bosses and Wall Street executives that he will move on the radical Paul Ryan agenda.”

“Retirees have long memories and won’t be fooled by Trump’s pandering. Older Americans are the largest group eligible to vote in 2016 and they will put their support behind a candidate who believes that Americans’ earned Social Security benefits are a sacred trust, not a bargaining chip,” said Fiesta.